Player  - Chips
Sami Yusuf  - 94,400
Robert Price  - 91,400
Liam Flood  - 85,100
Richard Bean  - 80,700
Kyriacos Dionysiou  - 78,600
James Sykes  - 77,800
Marcin Milde  - 77,200
Simon Deadman  - 76,500
Mark Robinson  - 75,900
Alan Mcclean  - 68,700
Michael Hill  - 59,900
Terence Owens  - 52,000
Steve Holloway  - 51,300
Aaron Barry  - 51,200
Stephen Eames  - 50,700
Richard Kellett  - 49,100
Martin Silke  - 48,600
Andrew Miles  - 47100
Justin Devonport  - 45,400
Gregory Hunt  - 42,900
Jeff Kimber  - 42,600
Charles Chattha  - 42,400
Jonathan Kalmar  - 40,500
James Williams  - 40,300
David Gardner  - 40,100
Richard Buck  - 39,800
Andrew Purser  - 39,300
Alan Trueick  - 38,700
Marc Wright  - 38,400
Jack Sandford  - 36,600
Karl Fenton  - 32,200
Brian Medley  - 31,400
Richard Dawson  - 30,000
Priyan de Mel  - 29,900
Om Aggarwal  - 29,000
Jeff Hemmerman  - 28,700
Christopher McNicholls  - 28,400
Andrew Booth  - 25,500
Paul Wilson  - 24,000
Mark Wilson  - 23,300
Robert Boon  - 22,200
Leon Campbell  - 21,700
Simon Wolf  - 19,400
Paul Parker  - 19,400
Anwar Kanj  - 18,900
Bernardo Battistotti  - 18,700
Phillip Booth  - 18,600
Waseem Shahid  - 17,800
Andrew Queenan  - 17,200
John Kay  - 17,100
Anthony Mackay  - 17,000

Well, until tomorrow that is.

The EPT in Deauville and the Aussie Millions in er… Australia may have left us light of some of the bigger names such as James Akenhead, Neil Channing and co., but 146 made their way up to Bolton nevertheless to compete in this week’s Main Event, and the opening GUKPT of the new season.

With an improved 15,000 stack, there was plenty more room to breathe, and it showed as just a handful of players exited within the opening levels. But having said that, the longer people play, the more impatient they become, and the more unforced errors are made, and as the day progressed, we soon began to see people fall as local boys Ali Mallu, Glen Ashworth and Olabode Ayegun were forced to try their luck in the cash game.

By the end of the day, we’d more than bisected our field with a total of 51 players thankful to have survived and made it through to what should be a fun-filled Day Two. Of those, Sami Yusef will be sleeping with the biggest smile having tripled his stack in the final level and ended the day with a chip-leading 94,000. Hot on his tail like a greyhound on a three-legged cat is Robert Price, his stack currently sitting on 91,400. At the other end of the spectrum, it’s Tony Mackay who will be dreaming of a double up, 17,000 a worry when placed adjacent to the blinds, but a stack that can still take the title if the cards were to fall his way.

So, as we await the final chip counts (which Jonathan Raab is currently eagerly collating on his spreadsheet), we bid you a temporary farewell and look forward to seeing you tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel. (That’s 2pm, blog.grosvenorukpokertour.com if you’re not sure).

Also leaving it late was former Irish Open finalist Tim Blake. With veteran Irishman Liam Flood making a standard raise from the cut-off (blinds of 1,000/2,000), Blake pushed all in from the big blind for 16,400. Flood didn’t snap him off (I’d love to think he uses such a term though), but did eventually call with Ad-Kh. “Queens,” announced Blake as he flipped Qs-Qh onto the table.

But despite it being a coinflip, it didn’t take long for the coin to fall Flood’s side, the flop coming Ac-5h-Kc for top pair. A ladyless 8s turn and 3h river and Blake was gone, with a sigh, but sporting nevertheless as he shook his victor’s hand.

We’re a Miller light after John Miller suffered a last minute exit. I wasn’t quick enough to reach the action, but I was able to snap him as he grabbed his coat and left the table. I don’t think I’ll be entering the world of professional photography any time soon.

As if live in the National Lottery studio, Blackpool winner Priyan de Mel was announced as the man responsible for selecting the number of hands left in the day. He didn’t get to pluck a number out from the air, rather he picked out a card which was ultimately a seven. So, for the mathematicians out there, that means we have seven hands to go before wrapping up play.

Not many pots are reaching the river at the moment without an all in beforehand, but I did spot one hand on the near table where this rarity occurred. I joined the action on the turn, Sami Yusef betting 4,000 on a Ts-5c-Qc-Th board. Andre Haygarth (big blind) made the call. On the Td river, Haygarth checked, triggering a bet of 7,000 from Yusef. Haygarth deliberated for a minute or two before chucking in the necessary chips and being shown Kh-Tc for rivered quads.

Snipered down by Will Brewin, 4s-4d holding up against Qh-Th on an uneventful 2c-8c-3c-5s-Jh board. Brewin on 38,000; Pulford on the motorway.

I’ve put the camera to one side, so apologies for the lack of photos during this level, but it’s not without reason: these latter stages are producing a frenzy of action, the latest leading to the demise of Osman Mustanoglu. All in with Q-J suited versus the K-Q of Mark Robinson things were looking bleak for Mustanoglu, and a last level exit imminent. A Knave-less board later and Mustanoglu was indeed gone, although I did spot him politely listening to a bad beat story as he departed the cardroom just moments ago.

Mick McCool was less fortunate, his swan song coming with Q-5 all in preflop against A-Q, the T-J-Q-K-x board failing to save the Irishman.

Table  - Seat  - Player  - Chips
1  - 1  - Richard Dawson  - 28,700
1  - 2  - Gary Holden  - 12,600
1  - 3  - Andrew Booth  - 14,000
1  - 4  - Christopher McNicholls  - 24,200
1  - 5  - Andrew Queenan  - 19,400
1  - 7  - Richard Buck  - 50,300
1  - 8  - Sadan Turker  - 15,200
1  - 9  - Marc Wright  - 28,200
1  - 10  - Richard Kellett  - 43,200
2  - 1  - Gregory Hunt  - 35,000
2  - 2  - Liam Flood  - 42,400
2  - 4  - Jack Sandford  - 35,100
2  - 5  - Charles Chattha  - 19,800
2  - 6  - Timothy Blake  - 24,700
2  - 7  - Phillip Booth  - 27,200
2  - 8  - Tim Hickling  - 10,300
2  - 10  - Osman Mustanoglu  - 35,100
3  - 1  - Aaron Barry  - 35,700
3  - 2  - Antony Kennedy  - 8,200
3  - 4  - Waseem Shahid  - 21,000
3  - 5  - Mark Wilson  - 26,500
3  - 6  - Michael Hill  - 68,100
3  - 7  - Robert Price  - 79,200
3  - 9  - Howard Plant  - 9,500
3  - 10  - Priyan de Mel  - 25,600
4  - 1  - Michael McCool  - 1,200
4  - 2  - Sami Yusuf  - 33,500
4  - 3  - David Gardner  - 21,500
4  - 4  - Edward Roger  - 15,100
4  - 5  - James Williams  - 32,700
4  - 6  - Karl Fenton  - 35,600
4  - 8  - Dominic Rossookh  - 50,300
4  - 9  - Marcin Milde  - 63,400
4  - 10  - John Miller  - 23,000
5  - 1  - Kyriacos Dionysiou  - 46,300
5  - 2  - Anthony Mackay  - 14,200
5  - 3  - Leon Campbell  - 52,400
5  - 4  - Bernardo Battistotti  - 38,100
5  - 5  - Paul Wilson  - 20,100
5  - 6  - James Nelson  - 23,600
5  - 8  - Anwar Kanj  - 43,600
5  - 9  - Martin Silke  - 40,300
5  - 10  - Simon Deadman  - 33,300
7  - 1  - Paul Parker  - 27,200
7  - 2  - Alan Trueick  - 38,300
7  - 3  - Francis Thomas  - 12,100
7  - 4  - John Kay  - 33,000
7  - 5  - Nigel Willis  - 28,000
7  - 6  - Om Aggarwal  - 34,900
7  - 7  - James Sykes  - 39,300
7  - 8  - Mark Robinson  - 44,800
7  - 9  - Brian Medley  - 14,300
8  - 1  - Robert Boon  - 12,600
8  - 2  - Jonathan Kalmar  - 46,600
8  - 3  - Leon Campbell  - 38,050
8  - 4  - Brian Pulford  - 6,200
8  - 5  - Richard Bean  - 52,500
8  - 6  - Mark Trett  - 17,900
8  - 7  - Justin Devonport  - 45,800
8  - 8  - William Brewin  - 48,900
8  - 9  - Andrew Purser  - 21,800
9  - 1  - Alan Mcclean  - 30,100
9  - 2  - Craig Byrom  - 19,625
9  - 4  - Steve Holloway  - 17,600
9  - 5  - Jeff Kimber  - 18,100
9  - 6  - Jeff Hemmerman  - 25,200
9  - 7  - Stephen Eames  - 47,900
9  - 8  - Simon Wolf  - 36,100
9  - 9  - Liam Duffy  - 44,100
9  - 10  - Terence Owens  - 26,900